


Snap!

by pi_meson



Series: Yuri's L-Words [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-08 07:00:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11076423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pi_meson/pseuds/pi_meson
Summary: Yuri has to fulfil his end of a lucrative sponsorship deal arranged by Yakov. It involves a leisurewear manufacturer and a photographer, and Lilia reminding him that nothing in life is free. Surely Victor never had to put up with this indignity!After a meltdown over one of the promotional photographs, Lilia offers a deal. Do this, and you can ask for anything. What do you want, Yuri?Setting: after Zolushka, before Rites of Spring.





	Snap!

"Yuri, come on!" Lilia called from the hallway just outside his room. "We'll be late. It looks bad to be late. Unprofessional. And we are _not_ unprofessional."  
Muffled through the door, Yuri called out, "Yeah, yeah, coming."  
The door opened and he emerged wearing a selection of garments that Lilia thought looked as if he'd been let loose blindfolded inside the gift shop at the zoo. She tutted at his smudged eyeliner and only just restrained herself from reaching out to fix it.  
"They have a stylist and a selection of clothing. You didn't have to put so much effort into looking like... like..." Lilia waved a hand up and down, gesturing at Yuri's outfit. He posed and smirked at her and she understood. "I see. This is deliberate. Well, I will not dignify this pointless sabotage of your own sponsorship deal with any protest. The car is here."

"Why do I have to do this?" Yuri whined on the short journey to the studio. "It's stupid."  
"It's part of your sponsorship deal. Yuri, you wear their kit and allow your photographs to be used on promotional materials. In return they pay for your skates and costumes and coaching and competition entry fees, and give you just enough money to live on." Yuri still pouted and huffed. Lilia sighed. Was this really the same graceful angel who performed _Agape_ and _Apassionato_ and rocked the skating community with the completely inappropriate _Welcome to the Madness?_ She tapped his arm to make him look at her and fixed him with a stony glare. "If you do not like the terms Yakov has negotiated on your behalf, you can always get a job."  
"I bet Victor never had to go through this crap," Yuri grumbled. Lilia laughed.  
"Victor _loved_ it. You couldn't walk through the city without seeing his pretty face looking at you and imploring you to buy hair products you didn't need."

That got a smile from Yuri. The car dropped them at the studio and they hurried through the January snow to get inside. Yuri was whisked away almost immediately by a make-up artist, and the agent from the sportswear company sat with Lilia to discuss the content of the photographs they would require. Yuri in his Russia team kit, showing off his skates was straightforward. Yuri in the latest fashions in leisurewear sounded unproblematic and Lilia agreed to almost all once she had seen samples of the garments, although she thought twice about the swimwear. She would leave that decision to the boy.

Lilia saw movement and turned to see an assistant hand Yuri a bundle of garments and point him to a screened-off changing area. He appeared after a few minutes in the latest Russia kit and was taken over to where the cameras and lights were arranged. Another assistant handed him a pair of skates. Yuri frowned.  
"Hey, these are wrong. They're for hockey."  
The photographer smiled encouragement. "That's okay, Yurochka, hold them up as if–"  
"I don't play hockey. Don't you have–"  
"Yes but you can pretend, hmm?"  
Yuri looked unsure. Lilia nodded at him and he sighed deep and held up the skates. It was going to be a long day.

By the fourth outfit, Yuri was at boiling point. He'd posed in clothes he swore he'd never be seen dead in, pretended to play tennis, gritted his teeth and grimaced as the photographer demanded he smile and smile and smile. He finally exploded over a pair of football boots that pinched his toes, kicked them off and stormed over to collect his things from the changing area. The photographer gave Lilia a pleading look and the agent tutted. Lilia shook her head.  
"A break perhaps? Give us a moment."

Everyone left except Yuri and Lilia. She found him sitting on the floor of the changing area, already in his tiger leggings and pulling on his leopard print boots.  
"Yura?"  
"Ugh this sucks!"  
"If you cooperate it will go more quickly."  
"I don't care. I'm not playing dress-up any more and if that geezer calls me _Yurochka_ again I swear I'll punch his fu–"  
"YURI!" Lilia stamped her heel on the hard wooden floor and made Yuri jump. "This is what happens when you win and you want to keep going. How else are you going to get paid?"  
Yuri stood up and brushed himself down. "I DON'T CARE!" He yelled at the ceiling of the spacious room. "Ugh I'd rather coach the juniors and wear old kit. I want to go home." He stared defiantly at Lilia.  
"Yuri..." Lilia wondered whether to be hard or to be soft. It would be easier to be hard first. She set her lips into a tight line then spoke with a quick, decisive tone. "You will finish this photo shoot. I will instruct the photographer to address you formally. You may not coach the juniors until you have earned an accredited coaching certificate but if that is what you want then I can organise it for next season. For now, if you wish to enter international competitions and stay in nice hotels, you must sell your image. Do you understand?"  
"It wasn't a problem last season!" Yuri protested with the most exaggerated shrug Lilia had ever seen. She added steel to her voice and iron to her glare.  
"THAT is because OTHER PEOPLE put up with this kind of thing and PAID into a FUND that PAYS for SNOT NOSED UNSPONSORED KIDS TO COMPETE!" She noted with satisfaction that Yuri had taken a step back. "Yuri, all your fees last year were skimmed from Victor's and Mila's and Georgi's sponsorship earnings. In turn, yours will partly pay for one of our most talented juniors to go to the Worlds. Are you really so selfish that you would deny them the chance you were privileged enough to enjoy?"

They faced off in silence for a few seconds then Yuri groaned and whined, but sat on the floor again in a heap of absolute misery. Lilia suppressed a smile.  
"I am prepared to make a deal with you. If you can get through the rest of the shoot in under two hours, I will take you for lunch and let you have a reward. Anything I can reasonably give. What do you think?"  
Yuri thought while he loosened and removed his shoes.  
"I don't know yet. But you have to promise, whatever it is, you will say yes."  
Lilia regarded Yuri's expression and wondered just how much she was going to regret agreeing.

The rest of the photoshoot, while not without tantrums, was as smooth as could be hoped. Yuri flatly refused to pose in swimwear that was any more revealing than a short wetsuit, and he struggled to look cheerful when faced with the kind of leisurewear that made swishy sounds when he moved and felt tight in the wrong places. Lilia quietly reminded him _a promise is a promise_ and, with a strange glint in his eye, Yuri found a serviceable smile.

"All done!" announced the agent after the last set of sportswear had been arranged on Yuri's frame and photographed from the most flattering angles. "Thank you. The driver will take you back home, or wherever else you want to go next."  
Yuri raced to get changed and met Lilia by the door three minutes before the time limit was up. Lilia smiled. "Well done, Yura."  
"Get me out of this hellhole," murmured Yuri with a scowl. 

Back in Lilia's apartment, after off-season burgers and fries that churned Lilia's stomach, Yuri shut himself in his room and Lilia heard his voice low and urgent, then a laugh and a whoop. She quickly dived into the kitchen when she heard Yuri's footsteps thumping towards the door.  
"Lilia?"  
"Yuri?"  
"You remember that promise you made this morning?"  
"Of course!" Lilia braced herself for an expensive request. Yuri grinned.  
"Great! You remember Otabek Altin? I want Beka to come here for my birthday and stay."


End file.
